Vatican, Discovery Channel Team Up for Exorcist Reality Show

When the Vatican updated
its exorcism ritual in 1999, Cardinal Jorge Media Estevez assured CNN
that instances of genuine demonic possession were "not that great [and]
rather scarce." This makes the Vatican's decision to team up with the
Discovery Channel for a new exorcism reality show all the more
perplexing. Demons, unlike Alaskan king crab, do not run in
season. Entertainment Weekly TV reporter James
Hibberd says the show's producers will "recreate stories of
real-life hauntings and demonic possession" and be granted "access into
the Vatican's case files, as well as interviews with the organization's
top exorcists--religious experts who are rarely seen on television."

And
while interviews with religious experts rarely seen on television do
not a breakout reality hit make, Hibberd explains why the Discovery
Channel won't be sweating it if the show starts slow.

The network
hopes its partnership with the Church will pave the way for producers
GoGo Luckey to take the series to the next level--joining Catholic
investigators on live demon-purging ride-alongs.